Agra district has many rural areas that are greatly influenced by the religious and sentimental attachment to the surrounding areas of Mathura and Vrindavan to Lord Krishna and Radha. Most of the fairs and festivals organized in the region are either temple festivals, religious festivals or cattle and village fairs based on Krishna's life such as

Taj Mahotsav is celebrated at Agra in the month of February for ten days. Organized by the Uttar Pradesh Tourism, the Taj Mahotsav is mainly dedicated to the promotion of Uttar Pradesh's rich arts, crafts, culture, cuisine, dance and music. Infact, it serves as an acknowledgment to the craftsmen as well as the exponents of art, music and cuisine. The venue of the festival of Taj Mahostav is Shilpgram, which is stone's throw away from Taj Mahal. The festival starts with a procession including bejeweled elephants and camels, drum beaters, folk artists and master craftsmen. Here, one can find extensive display of arts, crafts and culture of India along with classical dance and song performances. 'Mushairas' and 'Ghazal' programmes by the well-known Indian artists. The colorful celebrations welcome the Spring with a fiesta of Indian cuisine, dance and music, cultural displays and exhibition of arts and crafts. One of the major attractions of the Taj Mahal Utsav of Agra is the Food Festival, where you can get some of the oldest and the most typical delicacies from the interiors of Uttar Pradesh.

This procession is an effort to reconstruct the ones that were taken out during the time of the Mughals. Taj Mahotsav is best play to witness marble inlay work, wood carvings from Saharanpur, brass wares from Moradabad, handmade carpets of Badohi, the blue pottery of Khurja, the Chikan work of Lucknow and the silks of Banares, all at one place. The Crafts Fair and the Food Festival of Taj Mahotsav have their own charm. The folk dances such as Dundelkhand and 'Nautanki' of Uttar Pradesh, 'Sapera' dance of Rajasthan, the dance of snake charmers and Lavani of Maharashtra have always captured the attention of tourists.

Bateshwar Fair

Bateshwar is just 70 km from Agra and is names so after the presiding deity of the region, Bateshwar Mahadeo. It is an important spiritual and cultural centre boasting of 108 temples of the various gods and goddesses of Hindus. Bateshwar Fair is organized here annually during the months of October or November in the honor of Lord Shiva for a month.

Thousands of devotees visit the venue to take holy dips in River Yamuna and participate in the Livestock and Cattle Fair, which is famous in the nearby areas. Next.....